Rodman's Hollow

Rodman's Hollow Review

This easy-to-find nature preserve off Cooneymus Road is many visitors' first point of contact with the island's Greenway Trail system and an enduring testament to the island's conservation ethic. The main trail runs south about 1 mi to clay bluffs with great ocean views, from which a winding path descends to the rocky beach below. Side trails cross the 50-acre hollow, offering longer hikes and the allure of getting mildly lost. The striking, if muted, natural beauty makes it easy to understand why, 40 years ago, this was the property that first awoke the local land conservation movement, now close to achieving its goal of preserving half the island. Geology buffs will delight in this fine example of a glacial outwash basin; nature lovers may enjoy looking for the Block Island Meadow Vole, the state-threatened northern harrier, and federally endangered American burying beetle. A small parking lot sits just south of Cooneymus Road near a stone marker.